But if looking only at the simple truths of basketball, there are little miracles. Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy did not poetically time Jackson's return to the court. He waited until Jackson was ready.

And Jackson was ready in time to play against the Knicks, his first NBA team. After having an impressive debut with the Rockets, Jackson is ready for tonight's game in Indianapolis, where he enjoyed his best assist seasons.

"Years ago, it would have been even more special," Jackson said of the timing of his return. "The great thing that I do is I take it day-to-day, game-to-game and realize because it was something that was taken away from me, that it's just a thrill to be back."

Even more miraculous perhaps is that the second-most prolific passer in NBA history arrives at a time that the Rockets -- yes, those Rockets -- have come to faithfully embrace of all things, passing.

Jackson did not rack up huge assist numbers Wednesday. He had three in 15 minutes. But he passed masterfully. And more important, when the Rockets ran into trouble, they relied on ball movement far greater than in the first two months of the season, or in the first meeting with the Pacers when they scored just 71 points.

"We have been starting to pass the ball a lot better," Van Gundy said. "I think Mark will keep adding to it and enhance it, but I really do believe, our guys -- we got shot-happy at one point in the third quarter when we were trading baskets -- are for the most part really trying to share. Mark is one of the ultimate sharers obviously in NBA history."

In five games since Yao was held to 2-of-5 shooting for six points and benched through the fourth quarter on Jan. 11 against Boston, he has averaged 21 points and 13 rebounds and connected on 41 of 65 shots.

Yao has moved quickly to find a better position on the court. The Rockets have set him up for outside shots that have seemed to invigorate his confidence and assertiveness. But most of all, he has played on a better passing team.

"I think it's a lot to do with his teammates," Van Gundy said. "They're going to him and for good reason. We should go to him."

The Rockets have been so determined to work the ball to Yao, he finally was willing to make a few shots, and then repeatedly ask for more. But since he is a Rockets player, and in keeping with the customs of his teammates, they would like him to look for his shots whether they have been falling or not.

"Even when he's not hitting, I want him to keep shooting," guard Steve Francis said. "He'll learn that, as we continue to feed him the ball, if they play him one-on-one, he has to dominate."

When Yao dominated on Wednesday, everything else fell into place. Unlike most of the Rockets' good shooting games when they click from the 3-point line, the Rockets made 48.7 percent of their shots despite making just two of 14 3-pointers. They just got too many good shots to shoot poorly.

"He (Yao) makes us a totally different team when he's effective," Jim Jackson said. "He opens up the driving lane, the passing lanes, the cross-court passes, everything. He's just learning the game. He's just playing the game, playing on instinct. Putting the plays together will come when he realizes who he is and what he can do in this league."

But most miraculous of all, the Rockets' relatively new taste for ball movement inspired Van Gundy to laugh over a pass he considered horrible.

Mark Jackson tried the pass, a sort of spin, bounce pass through traffic. Seeing this, Francis hit Van Gundy with a punch line from one of his film sessions when Van Gundy had described a Yao defensive effort as so good that it "brought tears to my eyes."

After Jackson tried the pass, Francis had Van Gundy laughing out loud during the game.

"Steve reiterated that to me," Van Gundy said. "He said that he brought tears to my eyes."

But in case there was any doubt, Van Gundy turned back into a pained comic during a brief stand-up act.

"That was one of the worst passes I ever saw thrown," Van Gundy said. "No. Hold on. Don't give him credit for that pass. I said, here we have the second all-time assists guy. He comes out on our team, and he throws that type of pass. He made me think he's looking at our game film too much."

As laughter filled the room over something the Rockets had done poorly, anything seemed possible, even that the Rockets could transform themselves into deft passers.

As impossible as that might seem, Jackson tonight will follow a game against the Knicks with one in Conseco Fieldhouse, throwing passes to a 7-6, soft-handed center on a Rockets team that suddenly believes in passing.

If those are not miracles, Jackson can believe again that faith can be rewarded.

Rockets summary

Go with the flow

Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy's loose plan for Mark Jackson is to use him as the primary backup to Steve Francis and then go from there depending on matchups.

"He's going to be a short-minute guy," Van Gundy said. "He's going to play from five to 15 minutes, depending on the game, how it's going."

Jackson's defense was never a strength and likely has been slowed since he's 38 and had been out of the league for almost half a season. Defensive matchups likely would be among Van Gundy's considerations, though he said it would not handicap Jackson too greatly.

"Even his defense, which is much-maligned obviously, he's a good instinctive team defender," Van Gundy said. "He's going to struggle at times with guys. But everybody's got strengths you want to play to and weaknesses you want to cover up."

Big honor

With Jim Jackson back in Big Ten country tonight, he returns with a fresh honor from his collegiate playing days at Ohio State.

Jackson was named this week to the Big Ten's Silver Anniversary team by ESPN. Jackson averaged 19.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and four assists with the Buckeyes and was the Big Ten Player of the Year and All-America first-team pick his sophomore and junior seasons.

"I was proud," Jackson said. "The guys that I played with and the coaching staff put me in a position to do that with a lot of hard work. To be put on the Silver Anniversary team is quite an accomplishment. Not a lot of guys get a chance to be mentioned like that, let alone be selected to the group."

For Jackson, the honor is especially rewarding because he cherishes his time at Ohio State and Ohio. The armband he wears during games in inscribed with "419," the area code of his hometown of Toledo.

"Those were the best years of my life as far as camaraderie, what we did, what we accomplished as a team," Jackson said. "It was all 12, 13 guys and the coaching staff. We were a close-knit group. When I got my jersey retired, a lot of my former teammates were there and I thanked them because if it wasn't for them, my jersey wouldn't be hanging up."

Making a pitch

Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy wants to see top assistant Tom Thibodeau get a chance to run his own team.

Thibodeau has been an NBA assistant for 13 years -- seven with the Knicks before rejoining Van Gundy in Houston.

"Tom, I want to have get a shot, because I know somewhere it only takes one person to believe in you to get an opportunity, and he will do an unbelievable job wherever he gets that opportunity," Van Gundy said. "Tom is going to be one of those people they say, `Why didn't we think of him?' "